Want to start producing high-quality videos to support your business? To begin assembling your video dream team, you need to start with a thorough creative brief. This will help you craft attention-grabbing, effective job post to attract the top talent you need.
Your logical first hire will be the cornerstone of your video team—a video editor. A video editor can help with it all: Establishing a storyline, sourcing clips, designing transitions, and editing together your finished product. They’ll be able to coordinate with other talent like voice over artists and scriptwriters every step of the way, and handle the final publishing steps.
If you’ve never produced a video before, knowing where to start can feel a little overwhelming. This guide will help you determine what you need from an editor—plus simple job post templates to get started.
1. Define Your Video Production Needs
First, let’s hone in on the kind of video you want.
Harry Yu, a video producer at Upwork, says, “The best way to find out what kind of video you want is to think about the message you are trying to communicate. From there, think about the best visual representation to capture that. Allow certain emotions to direct the visual path you want to take.”
Here are a few types to consider:
- Live action uses footage you capture (e.g. a product video) or source online (e.g. stock clips edited along a storyline seen here)
- Animated uses motion graphics or digital animation, like a whiteboard video
- Hybrid video uses a combination
Some are better suited for certain topics. “If you want your product to feel more human, try going the live action route,” says Yu. “If you have a complex SaaS product you want to explain in an easy way, a fully animated spot might be your solution. There’s no right answer, but certain formats can definitely amplify your spot.”
Can’t see the video on your mobile device? View it here.
For the video above, a video editor and writer collaborated to come up with the concept of a short quiz-style video. Once the editor was provided a frame-by-frame script by the writer, he sourced live action stock clips online to match the script, edited those clips together in Adobe Premiere Pro, sourced music, and added transitions to create a final, polished video.
Different types of video will have different requirements, phases, and timelines. See how each type of video gets created from start to finish, with sample timelines for each, in our Spotlight on Video: The Talent and Tools to Tell Your Story.
2. Match an Editor Up to Your Video Requirements
Now you’re ready to start defining the specific skills and experience you’ll need. Depending on their specialties, video editors may be behind the camera, in the audio booth, behind a computer, or all of the above.
The video producer you engage may be able to help with the following:
- Video conceptualizing and storyboarding
- Sourcing footage: Live action clips, stock clips, or screen capture
- Motion design, animated graphics or text. Note that motion graphics is a very different skill than editing, but the two can overlap. If your video is strictly animated, be sure to engage a motion graphics designer.
- Sound recording and editing, voice over editing, and music selection
- Transitions, color grading, effects, and pacing with music
- Optimization and publishing
3. Write a Comprehensive Creative Brief
Whether you want a quick screengrab video showing a user how to do something on your site or you’re staging a full-scale live action shoot with actors and locations, the key to a successful video project is a clear, thorough creative brief. Your brief should outline:
Consider including any of the following video logistics:
- Background information. What is your company or business? What products or services do you provide?
- Business goals and scope of the project. Explain the purpose of the video(s) and what you hope to accomplish with them.
- Where will the footage come from?
- Explain how the videos will be used and where they’ll be published.
- Include your timeline, budget, and deliverables. Be sure to build in time for feedback and rounds of revision. Be specific about what file format you want the video to be delivered in, and any resolution specifics.
Tip: Browse a video producer’s portfolio to see prior work and get a sense for his or her style.
Example Templates: Writing Video Project Descriptions
Now it’s time to write your project description and post it online. A project description will read a lot like a request for proposal (RFP), and should include just as much detail.
Below are two samples of how video project descriptions may look—one for a live action video shoot, and one for a computer-only video like the one you watched above.
Job Post Template for Short Digitally Edited Videos
Title: 25 Short Screengrab Animation Videos for FAQs on Apartment Rental Website
Description
- The project: We need 25 short videos created to support individual FAQ pages on our website that demonstrate to users how to use certain functionalities of our web app.
- Each video will demonstrate a series of steps, which we will provide to you as a clip list prior.
- The editor should emulate our style of pacing, color grading, opacity, ease in/out effects, panning, and lower-thirds.
Video Specs
- 30-second screencapture videos
- We will provide the script. You will need to coordinate with voiceover artist to get VO audio
- No background music
- Videos will be posted on YouTube and specific FAQ pages on our Help tab.
Equipment
- Screengrab software (Atomos or similar)
- Adobe Suite (e.g., AfterEffects)
- 4K monitor
Project Scope & Deliverables:
- We’d like to have all 25 created in the next quarter
- Milestones: First and final drafts (two deliverables)
- Submit via MS teams or Dropbox (file size around 15GB)
Job Post Template for In-Person, Live Action Video Production
Title: State Tourism Board Needs Three Aerial + Ground Videos to Promote State Parks/Attractions for National Outdoor Month
Description
- You: We need an agile individual to film adventure activities over 3 shoot days with multiple locations. The activities may include kayaking, biking, mountain biking, hiking, skydiving, and other outdoor activities. You’ll be responsible for all facets of pre-production, production, and post-production.
- The project: Produce three 2-minute videos of a social media influencer visiting our state over a 3-day period, with a short video for each day of the trip.
- You will collaborate with us to research and develop storylines before the week of shooting. We must approve all storylines before production.
Video Specs
- 4K video preferred
- Video size: 3840 x 2160 (16:9), Codec:Intermediate format, Audio: required.
- These videos will be no longer than 2 minutes in length (ideally 60 seconds each) and include the destination, interviews, and other interesting cutaway footage.
- Videos will be posted on YouTube, social media channels, and our landing page.
Equipment
- Please provide a list of your equipment, e.g. Osmo stabilizer with Mic/Audio capabilities, DSLR, GoPro, etc.
- Mics required to capture high-quality interview and activity audio
- Please list any additional capabilities or services such as underwater videography, aerial drone (must be licensed)
Project Scope & Deliverables
- When: September XX, 2018
- Pre-production: Storyline approval. We will provide shot lists for each location.
- Production: We may request short clips to use on our social media channels as sneak peeks.
- Post-production: 3 short videos + 1 longer video compilation
- Review process: The video production may include a 2-cut review process.
- We’ve attached a video example of what we’re looking for—no longer than 2 minutes and we have a stock music provider for you
- Discs and hard drives should be marked and identified with name of shoot and date. All model releases (attached) should be delivered with digital media.
Please provide 3 links to similar projects completed in past.
These two templates should help you get started with drafting your own job posts. Ready to get started? Post your job today.
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